Orléans resident Chad Chartrand has a dream of one day opening his own cooking school for the general public. He’s made the first step towards achieving that dream by launching the STiR Culinary Studio which organizes bilingual cooking classes for kids and their families.
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| Chad Chartrand recently launched the STiR Culinary Studio offering cooking classes for kids and their families. PHOTO SUPPLIED |
By day, Chartrand is the communication and fund development coordinator for the Orléans Cumberland Community Resource Centre. By night he is the father of a three-year-old and five-year-old.
The idea to start a cooking school for kids and their families was planted during his eldest son’s birthday party at the former Kid’s Kingdom.
“I was talking to one of the other dads who was the owner of the Your Independent Grocer store in Rockland at the time,” says Chartrand. “And I told him about working as a coordinator with the old PC cooking school that existed before the pandemic.”
Chartrand expressed his desire to try and start something similar, offering cooking classes as well as food themed birthday parties, and the man agreed to rent him some space, and thus the STiR Culinary Studio was born.
Based on the philosophy, “Where food, curiosity and creativity meet”, the STiR Culinary School is currently offering classes on select Saturdays in October, November and December. Each class is broken down by age group, Mini Chefs age 4-6, Little Chefs age 7-9, and junior chefs age 10-13.
The theme of some of the initial classes include Spooky Halloween Treats on Nov. 1,
Little Chefs Taco Workshop on Nov. 15 and Junior Chefs Pasta from Scratch on Nov. 29. Each class starts at 9 a.m. and costs $40 per person.
The object of the classes, according to Chartrand, is to instill in each participant the joy of cooking. Parents are also welcome to cook side-by-side with their children.
The cooking classes are held in the morning so that the afternoons are free for birthday parties.
Kids can have their choice of a Pizza Party, a Taco Fiesta, or a Pasta Party. In each case the birthday boy or girl and their guests can both make the food and eat it.
Each party starts at $350 for up to eight people. Each additional guest costs $15 up to a maximum of 12 individuals. Cupcakes and loot bags are available as add ons.
Chartrand is hoping to one day open up his own storefront cooking school in Orléans for kids and their families. Until then, he plans to spread the joy of cooking to as many pint-size would be chefs as possible.
To find out more about the STiR Culinary Studio and the classes being offered, visit stirculinary.ca.
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